•Crude futures fell away from all time-high settlements on Monday as industry players took stock, using weaker equity markets and easing geopolitical tensions as a trigger to ease long positions, brokers said. "The volatility of the current market makes this move insignificant," a broker said. "The release of the Turkish soldiers and some credit issues have helped the selling along its way."

•On Sunday, the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) freed eight Turkish soldiers it had taken hostage as Ankara's premier left for Washington to seek concrete steps to crack down on the guerrillas. Tensions between Turkey and Kurdish rebels have contributed to the recent spike in oil prices as traders were concerned supplies from the oil-rich Middle East would be disrupted if the crisis spilled over into the region.

•The dollar index rebounded from all-time lows as the greenback strengthened against the euro and pound, and with lower European stock prices, this has contributed in the weakening of the oil futures, brokers said.

Updated: November 5, 2007